Technical Abstract:
Iceland has experienced remarkable changes in the incidence of campylobacteriosis in the past decade. Consistently low from 1990-1995, cases increased sharply during the next four years, peaking in 1999. While Icelandic agencies conducted surveys under the RANNIS project in 1999 and 2000, in a separate effort Stern and Hiett, et al. compared Campylobacter alleles from human cases and broilers during three months in 1999. Finding a high proportion of shared alleles, Stern sought to develop further studies through collaboration with Icelandic expertise in the RANNIS group, Canadian and Swedish colleagues.
Iceland provides unique opportunity to study the epidemiology of Campylobacter in agricultural production and risk factors for human illness. A well defined and closed production system provides the sole source of broiler chicken for an island nation population. Farm production and food processing technology is comparable to intensive production systems elsewhere, with production scale being large enough to be relevant, yet small enough to enable a total population study. Non-poultry agricultural production is described by annual farm census, with all farms geo-located. Furthermore, Iceland is exceptional for the diversity and quality of data available for epidemiological study.
We provide an overview of the longitudinal study design, sampling the entire broiler production of three major integrators (90% of total Icelandic production during the study period 2001-2004), including all production levels from grandparent flocks in Sweden, to retail products; domestic livestock, wild birds, environmental samples, and human cases. Application of microbiology, epidemiology, genetic typing, data management and system modelling is described. Study data are currently in all stages of publication and continuing analysis, and we provide the reader with an understanding of how current and future publications fit in the overall project.